Something in the Water...

I just got a new calling at church-- I've changed from being the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society to being the 2nd counselor in the Young Women's organization. I'm pretty happy with that, except for one thing that troubles me. I will now be working in a group of 8 women. Only two of the women in the group (besides me) are NOT pregnant.

I'm not eating or drinking anything at their activities!

Fight Like a Girl

Bentley and Kendra played very well this afternoon, mostly pretending to be superheroes. Bentley was Batman and Kendra was Batgirl (the feminist in me is wondering why she isn't "Batwoman," but whatever). At one point they came upstairs to show me their wicked fighting skills. Kendra danced around with a sword, and long after I was done videoing her, she continued her fight, narrating her actions along the way. At one point, as my back was turned, I heard her proclaim, "She's the greatest fighter ever!"

That's my girl, Kendra.

Pull no punches.

The Harry Potter Post, Part I

I've read at least two blog posts all about Harry Potter, and I wanted to add my two cents to it all, too. Because like so many other people, I have truly loved those books.

Craig and I FINALLY got to see Part II of the Deathly Hallows last night at IMAX, thanks to my sister Natalie who sent me birthday money just for that! What a thoughtful gift, huh?

And I have to say: Craig and I were blown away by it. It was SO well done. It made at least one of us tear up (and possibly two of us...). And-- don't hate me for this-- I'm not someone who has always loved the Harry Potter movies. I saw each one and I enjoyed them, but it was hard for them to ever do the books justice, I thought. No, I'm actually not one of those people who always insists that the book is better than the movie. I actually took a Film & Literature course where the professor really emphasized that often the changes movies make to books are because it's impossible to directly translate books to film because they are such different mediums. So this isn't just me being a book snob.

But in this case, the movie was just about perfect. The only things that I didn't love-- and they were so minor I'm being pretty bratty to even mention them-- were that they seem to have lost Goyle, because standing next to Crabbe in the Room of Requirements was some other kid??? And then at the end (***Tons of Spoilers!!!***) when Harry destroys the elder wand, he was supposed to use it to repair his old wand first. Then he destroys it. But those are truly silly things to complain about.

I thought everything else was spot-on. I loved Helena Bonham Carter's performance as she "plays" Hermione playing herself. I thought the dragon inside of Gringotts was exactly the right combination of pasty and scared, but also outraged and scary. I loved the image of it climbing the rocks, struggling to get to fresh air. Voldemort was perfect in his evil scariness, his rage as each horcrux was destroyed, and-- perhaps most important and most difficult to pull off-- his fear that perhaps he can actually die. Ron actually proved he could act, when he cried over Fred's body. Even Harry's acting seemed much improved, and Hermione continued to be wonderful (as were Snape, McGonagal, and a host of others). Harry discovering in the pensieve that he, too, is a horcrux, Mrs. Weasley defeating Bellatrix LeStrange, Harry's time in King's Cross Station with Dumbledore.... All of it was exactly as I pictured it.

Well, done, cast and crew of Harry Potter 7.2! Well done.

I think we're going to have to go see this one again!



Back to the Harry Potter movies in general. I actually think they've gotten better with each one. The first two did a great job of capturing the magic and awe of Hogwarts, but I thought they didn't add much to the books. It was as if they followed the books so closely that I got a little bored by them. The third movie had a couple interesting details it added, but it seemed to do so at the expense of telling the story and getting a good performance out of the actors. (I remember one scene where Harry was supposed to be crying and the acting was so bad it was painful to watch. Ooch.) The fourth one seemed to dispense with the acting all together and was just plot, plot, plot, but even so I spent the entire movie worrying that anyone who hadn't read the book would have no idea what was going on. (Where these movies are concerned, I kind of think no one should be allowed in the theaters who hasn't read the book first.) The fifth movie was much better, and I felt it had a good balance of story telling and just being an enjoyable movie. But the 6th movie was where I really felt they got it perfectly: it had a much slower feel to it, like it was taking its time telling the story. But never in a way that felt boring or anything. I loved seeing Harry and Dumbledore's relationship really growing finally, even if the ending was so heart wrenching. 7.1 followed in the same vein-- a bit slower, taking its time to set everything up just right for the sequel. And this allowed the sequel to be just PERFECT.

So if I had to rank them, I think it would be like this:

1. 7.2
2. 6
3. 7.1
4. 5
5. 4
6. 2
7. 1
8. 3

But they're all worth seeing! I sort of want to see them ALL again now. Just like how I love reading the entire series straight through every couple of years. I don't think they'll ever get old for me (or any other fan, for that matter).

As I'm typing all this, I realize I still have a lot to say about all the books. I think it will have to be in a different blog post, though. So stay tuned!

Artist

Bentley has fallen in love with drawing, and it's been fun to watch as he has definitely been improving! It also means that I don't have to draw everything for him, first (although I don't actually mind doing that-- it's about time all the doodling I did in high school and college finally paid off!)

Like any true artist, he is also convinced that he can save the world with his artwork. He wants to give his pictures to everyone from Grandma, to our neighbor, to taxi drivers. He just knows that these pictures will make everyone happier. So far everyone has been very gracious about receiving these presents. We haven't managed to give one to a taxi driver just yet, though.

These are tiger sharks and sea turtles. And up above them is a map.

A monster truck

This is Mac the truck taking Lightning McQueen to his next race

Not bad, huh?

Heat Wave vs. Running: 1-0

Sometimes, the stars just don't align properly for you to go running.

I went last week on Monday, and ran the farthest I've managed yet: 1.9 miles. I was kind of exhilarated and had high hopes of finally making it to 2 miles that week. But then the heat wave hit. With temperatures in the low 100s, and humidity that made it feel like 120, it really seemed like a bad idea to even try, unless I could make it out the door by 6:00am or something. But Thursday the kids let me sleep until 9:00 and I had a friend coming at 10:30, so that was out. And then Saturday was Craig's birthday, so I figured it was more important that I get up with the kids and let Craig sleep in rather than abandoning them all for my run.

So I was bound and determined to make up for it this week, starting today. But then Ryder was up at 1:00am AND 4:30am. I have no idea why. But I didn't mange to drag myself out of bed until 8:45, by which time Craig had made oatmeal for us and then I needed to feed Ryder and put him down for a nap. I didn't even leave the house until after ten. And by then the temperature was 88 with a humidity pushing it to feel like 99. It was my shortest run, and it consisted of the most walking. Even walking downhill after a substantial break, I was panting and sweating so much that it didn't even seem safe to try and push myself back into a slow jog.

So I'm home. And a little disappointed in myself. Tomorrow I'll have to actually get out of bed early, regardless of how Ryder sleeps. There are just too many excuses out there!

They're predicting thunder showers tonight. Maybe I can go running in the rain.

This is what I thought about during Sacrament meeting today

How is it possible for one (nearly) 8-month-old baby, with all the normal number of limbs, to simultaneously pull the neck of my shirt down, pull my hair, choke me with my own necklace, AND pull my skirt up?

And then the next question: why don't I just show up for church in my pajama pants and flip flops? At least, until my kids are in college. Because I think it would be much less hazardous...

So Long And Thanks For All the Fish

Back in March, Bentley became obsessed with tiger sharks. (He has also been obsessed with killer whales, bats, wolves, bees, and crocodiles so far. We get a lot of interesting books from the library about each of these animals!) During this time, he kept telling me that he wanted to go to the ocean so he could see a tiger shark. I couldn't manage to convince him that it would take more than just a trip to the ocean to see one, so finally I figured out that the Baltimore Aquarium had tiger sharks, and I promised to take him there. Some day. I'd had hopes of doing it during spring break, but that didn't happen. So we pushed it off until summer.

And then we looked up the ticket prices and nearly reneged on our promise. $25 for an adult and $20 per child! Whoa? But a promise is a promise. And it's not like it would get any easier to go, so we finally found a day that wasn't too busy and put it on the calendar.

I will say: it was expensive, but it was also WAY cool. I'm glad we went. We probably won't make it there again for a very long time, but I sure am glad we went!

I'm going to break one of my cardinal rules and post lots of pictures of the fish. Usually I figure no one is interested in pictures of stuff they could undoubtedly find better pictures of by simply doing a Google Images search. But in this case, I can't resist the urge to do the "We saw this! This close up!!!" kind of bragging. Forgive me. And enjoy all the cool fish!

Craig carried Ryder the. entire. time. What a man!

See the skeleton of a fin whale? Not as impressive as the blue whale at the Museum of Natural History. But not far behind, either!

We could have watched the pool full of rays for hours.

Love the tiny striped fish hiding in the spines of the sea urchin

I absolutely fell in love with that tiny yellow and purple fish. Have you ever seen such colors?

Carrying an empty carrier while Craig carried a sleeping Ryder in his arms. Poor sleep-deprived baby!

That big green strip is an eel. Eeew...

Bentley was in heaven. And look at how big those things are compared to my kids!

A sawtooth shark.

This giant sea turtle is named Calypso. The poor thing is missing a flipper, but she was still pretty impressive!

Feeding time for all the rays and the sea turtle

Scuba diver feeding lettuce to Calypso.
You kind of get a better of big this sea turtle is with him next to her like that.

Me with the dolphins!!!

As creepy as jellyfish are, I think this picture that Craig took is stunningly beautiful.

A lionfish (shouldn't this be called a zebrafish?)

It absolutely poured while we were inside. We picked a great day to go!

Leaving at the end of the day. Bentley was starving and couldn't pause from stuffing crackers into his mouth to smile. It must be tough having absolutely no body fat...

We had a great time. If you've got a hot, rainy summer day to kill and a hundred bucks burning a hole in your pocket, I cannot recommend this place enough!

Visitors

Craig's Aunt Lynda and Uncle Greg came up to visit from South Carolina! This meant that we had a perfect chance to do a bunch of the touristy things that we never get around to! It also meant that we ate like complete gluttons the entire time they were here (oops). One of these days I really need to curb that habit. In the meantime, here are some pictures from what we did!

We visited Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson:

The actual house. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I LOVED the interior. I'm familiar with the outside, but I had no idea how lovely and bright all the inner rooms would be. Nice job, Jefferson! I told Craig he could build a house like that for us one day...

Bentley really liked this huge tree

Ryder Smith Slept Here

Starting the tour of the home. I really liked our guide-- he was super knowledgeable and interesting. Next time we'll have to do the extended tour!

Ryder and Craig with the man himself. I have SO much respect for Thomas Jefferson. I'm so grateful for all he did to establish our wonderful country!

Aunt Lynda with Ryder

A couple days later, we hit the Air and Space Museum. Bentley was so excited to see the space shuttle (which, coincidentally was in flight while we were there, with Craig's brother working hard at mission control! It made us sad knowing that it was on its last flight...)

I don't know why Bentley is looking so weird, but still, I kind of love this picture.

With the spy plane that can fly across the country in 64 minutes... Wow...

Ryder looking on in awe...

The gang!

We had a great time with Lynda and Greg-- come back and visit any time!

Craig-ism

Craig, checking the weather, NOT being ironic: "It's supposed to be 87 degrees. I guess that's warm enough to go to the pool."

Me: "We've lived in Virginia too long."

Whew.

This commercial-- about wearing your seatbelt, of all things-- totally had me tearing up. No, I'm not pregnant. It's just made really well. Go ahead and watch it. But have a tissue handy...




{Sniff.} Right?

Standing at the Brink

I like to blog about ideas I have, in the hopes that once I've put them out there for you to see and comment on, I might actually go through with it. So far this has worked fairly well-- that's how I ended up making that book sling I wanted so much (mostly because my friend read the post and offered to do it with me). And I have indeed gone running a few times (five times to be exact, but I'm already up to 1.7 miles, so I'm pretty proud of myself!), thanks in part to all the encouragement you've given me. And also because I would have felt really stupid saying I was going to try running and never actually doing it.

So I guess this blog helps me to be accountable to myself.

Which is why I want to write about another new thing coming. Maybe. Some family friends (hey there, Hogans!) read the book Eat to Live and changed their entire eating habits based on this book. And now my sister just started reading it and following its recommendations, too. And they all say that the ideas in the book just make sense to them. They follow the Word of Wisdom, they seem up to date with scientific knowledge, and (perhaps most important) they seem genuinely healthy.



So I just got a copy from the library. And I just started reading it. (You'll notice that I purposely waited until after my birthday!) And Craig is going to read it with me. And once we've read the whole thing, we're going to decide if we want to give it a try.


Does anyone else think this sort of sounds like what we Mormons do to everyone with the Book of Mormon? We say, "Just read it! Just pray about it! Just try it!" I feel like that's what I'm doing with this book. (Although I probably won't pray about it.) The thing is, I have such mixed feelings about it all. Because part of me sort of hopes that when I close the book, I don't believe a word the guy has said. Because then I won't have to actually do it. If I try out this new way of eating and find that I feel better and can (FINALLY) lose this extra baby weight, then I'm in for a whole new lifestyle of eating. And that is a HUGE change! When you think about it, eating is one of the most important things we do every day. The only thing more drastic would be to change the way you breathe or sleep! And we all know that making big changes is scary. Petrifying, even.

So I don't particularly want to change how I eat. But-- ay, there's the rub-- clearly I need to make some changes, since nothing else I've done has even nudged these extra 30 lbs I've been carrying around.

Back to my Mormon analogy, I imagine this is how people feel when they're trying to decide whether or not to join the Church. They want that happiness and that relationship with God, but they don't particularly want to change their entire lives based on it. But just like the Church, I get the impression that this book asks for a lot of commitment. Heck, being healthy is a pretty big commitment these days. More and more, it seems to have become an all or nothing deal, and what could be scarier than that? I guess maybe all the health problems associated with not doing it (all of which run in my family, I'm afraid)...

So, like the title of this post says, I'm standing at the brink. And I'm kind of scared. But I'm a little bit excited, too.

The Break Up

Dear Chipotle,

First of all, let me just reassure you that the problem is me. Not you. I know that's a horrid cliche, but it really is the truth here.

We've had a lovely five years together. When we first embarked on our relationship, I couldn't even guess what an important part of my life you would become. The dates, the food, the ease of it all. Even when we moved, you were actually closer to me than ever before (more right turns, less left turns). I really began to believe that we could make things work. I even forgave you that one time when you made me totally sick. I know you didn't mean it.

But you have to understand that Cafe Rio and I split up because of distance. And not emotional distance. Real, tangible, geographical, you're-two-thousand-miles-away-from-me distance.

Cafe Rio made the first move about a month ago, easing into a Maryland location that I found hard to resist. But I put my blinders on. I was still committed to us.

But now Cafe Rio is here. In Manassas. Just one mile away from me. I don't even have to deal with Sudley Road to get to Cafe Rio. How can I say no to that? I can't. I can't, and I won't. I won't keep up the pretense any longer-- it would just be cruel to you and to my figure. Cafe Rio has always been my true love. And always will be. We got back together last night and we just couldn't be any happier.

In the meantime, thanks for all the memories. You're wonderful, you really are. You'll find the right girl for you some day, I know it.

Yours,
Alanna

Ryder-ism

At 7 months, Ryder is developing a sense of humor. I love it. It first came to our attention a week ago when he and Bentley spent a good ten minutes just laughing at each other. They giggled, chuckled, chortled, shrieked, and just kept on laughing. It was hilarious.

And now, Ryder has a new trick. Once he's mostly done eating, he'll pretend like he's about to nurse some more, but then suddenly grab a fistful of my shirt and stuff that in his mouth instead and just laugh and laugh at me. He thinks he's playing the best joke ever. Bentley used to do a similar thing-- he would move towards me like he was going to nurse, and then pull back and just smile at me instead with this sort of, "Gotcha!" grin. I don't remember Kendra ever playing any games like this-- I guess boys are just sillier from birth!

Kendra-ism

Craig took the kids to the bookstore this morning. They found a book of The Lion King, and Kendra pointed at Rafiki and said, "Look, it's Mafreaky!"



Given my fear of primates, that might just be more accurate.

Empire State, Part II

I thought I was done with all the photo-dump posts, and then I looked at Tracy's pictures from our New York trip and realized that I needed to post these, too. I promise, one of these days I'll get back to actually writing my thoughts on this blog!

Ryder and Bentley watch TV while mommy naps

Admiring the ducks and turtles at the Central Park Zoo

The polar bear was very popular with us!

Waiting until it's feeding time for the sea lions

This is a different bench. Craig, after looking at all of Tracy's pictures, commented that it looked like we had gone to New York City and sat around on a lot of benches. Yeah, well, it's hard to take pictures when you're walking and pushing a stroller! But THIS lovely bench was where we watched the sunset and ate the best cookies in the world.

I feel the need to point out that, even though these are Tracy's pictures, that is CRAIG'S hairy foot in the picture. Not Tracy's. Thank you.

Oh, to be so flexible!

Georgia treats all the kids to story time!

Tracy with her favorite nephews and niece. (Take that, Natalie and Leah!)

Getting ready to leave Tracy's place

Hope I haven't completely worn you out by now!

And Happy 4th of July! I'm blogging while Craig picks up Coldstone for us. What fun thing have you been up to?